Dock at Valparaiso, visit to Santiago

Hi Guys,

Valparaiso/Santiago 8 February 2011

(Latitude: 33 02'South Longitude: 71 38’West)

(Time -3 hrs GMT)

Easter Island (12 Feb) is a cruise by and our next port of call is Pitcairn Island, (13 Feb)

We dock at Valparaiso in pleasant temperatures (15C it reaches 22C later) but we choose to go by coach to Santiago about 1 ½ hours away to the east. We get to see the countryside which looks very much like San Diego in California or the Karoo in South Africa.

We arrive into Santiago and the downtown area Plaza de Armas, a really lovely square with trees and sitting areas. There is a museum, the cathedral and the post office. We park the coach and walk a block to exchange money (Pesos465/$), we don’t need much and we exchange only $20. A credit card will handle any major expenses. The roads are American style and tree lined, but in this downtown area there are many pedestrian walkways. The sidewalks are bustling with people. We are told that the average Chilean earns about $300 - $400 per month.

We are supposed to be dropped off in Santiago so that we can, “do whatever we want” but we are driven north across the Maposho river to the metropolitan park where we have the option to get off and take a funicular to the top of Cerro San Cristobal but the park is far enough away that we would need a taxi to get back to Plaza de Armas and we decide to stay on the coach. We return via the local lapis lazuli outlet, the local Market and the fish market where there are many restaurants selling belly bursting fish meals, something that we don’t need coming off a cruise ship. However the king crab (not the Alaska variety), tuna and the fish dishes do look delightful. Apparently, the deep water trench off shore from Chile’s is a perfect breeding ground for a great variety of fish. We go the local mall and we grab some Chinese food, something we cannot get easily on the ship. We spend the rest of the afternoon browsing the shops along the pedestrian walkways until 3 PM when I visit the museum and it is time to catch the coach back to the ship. Earthquake damage to some of the older buildings is very much In evidence where ever you go.  A delightful city; a delightful day.

When we return to the ship we find out that 4 people have been evicted from the ship, suitcases put on the dock and they are told to find their own way home.  It seems that one man has been touching up the ladies, and other has been doing graffiti on some of the Rolf Harris pictures in the picture gallery! Not sure what the other couple did, but it must have been serious! Maybe they came to dinner in shorts?

Today Susan is thrown off the Prom deck (7) at 6.45am because walking, running and power walking is now not allowed before 8am each morning because passengers on deck 6 cannot sleep, one disgruntled passenger threatened to take Susan’s picture if she were to continue, she is not happy because the gym does not open until 8am. She does plan B which is deck 13 the open deck and she wont be having a good hair day! The ship is travelling at 24 MpH and if there is a headwind then she is almost walking horizontal.

Mounted Police in Plaza de Armas Santiago

Plaza de Armas Santiago

Valparaiso harbour

Roy in Rustic setting

Valparaiso (Vale of Paradise in Spanish) was founded in 1536 by the conquistador Juan de Saavedra, however, Sir Francis Drake paid an uninvited and unwanted visit in 1578 during his round-the-world voyage and sacked the city..Later Sir John Hawkings and in 1600 Van Noort, a Dutch pirate also sacked Valparaiso. The Spaniards shelled the city in 1866 and an uprising in 1891 caused more damage. If there was not someone trying to destroy the city then the earthquakes will. Valparaiso is built on 42 hills and is home to about 300,000 people. In 1906 there was a powerful earthquake at about the same time as the San Francisco earthquake.

In 1914 the Panama Canal opened resulting in an almost overnight end of ships using the long ocean route around Cape Horn.

The fortune of Valparaiso was improved by the Californian gold rush (1849) and the clippers that would visit, however the steam ships would refuel at Punta Arenas or Conception. But Valparaiso became the main banking, commercial and business center of Chile.

Valparaiso is on a similar latitude to Port Elizabeth in South Africa or that of New York.